


Flowers and Chocolates

by EllieWan



Category: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Video Games)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Idiots in Love, Light-Hearted, Siege The Valentines 2021 (Rainbow Six), Sledge is a funny awkward mess, Valentine's Day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 07:34:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29381445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllieWan/pseuds/EllieWan
Summary: Gridlock finds flowers and chocolates in her locker for Valentine's Day.Thing is, she has no freaking idea of who they're from.
Relationships: Background Mark "Mute" Chandar/James "Smoke" Porter, Tori "Gridlock" Tallyo Fairous/Seamus "Sledge" Cowden
Comments: 11
Kudos: 23
Collections: SiegeTheValentines_2021





	Flowers and Chocolates

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there :D This is my contribution for DualRainbow's Valentine's Day event :) Thanks a lot for letting me participate!  
> My prompt was: "Being surprised by flowers and chocolate sent to your work from a secret admirer."  
> So here's some super light-hearted fluff made in Ellie.  
> \+ Sorry for any mistake / weird phrasing :)

"Hahaha! Just imagine Grandpa Thatcher's face! That's a good revenge for last year. I know you were busy upstairs pissing off Cav’ with your traps, but if you could have seen his face !!!”

Gridlock smiled softly while Mozzie continued to recount the exploits of the match that had opposed them minutes earlier, as she opened their booth to drop off their loadout.

"Anyway, you surely didn't miss me at the end. With 4 frags on your own, you should definitely think about asking for a raise,” he joked.

She entered the booth, rolling her eyes:

"It was just a happy coincidence and good teamwork, I didn't have much to do apart from throwing a few traps and pulling the trigger.”

"C'mon! Stop being modest for a second."

She chuckled and went to open their locker. But when she did, she suddenly froze at what she found.

Inside was a _bouquet of roses, a box of chocolates and a small card._

"What's wrong?" Mozzie asked, jumping to look over Gridlock's shoulder.

"There are flowers and chocolates in our locker,” she stated.

"What?!" Mozzie exclaimed as he slid under Gridlock's arms to take a closer look.

She stepped aside, letting Mozzie investigate, while she removed her plate carrier and gear.

"Is it from your wife?" she asked. "Weird, I thought she found Valentine's Day too sappy.”

But Mozzie gradually turned to her, the small red card in his gloved hands.

"No, Tori... it's for you.”

Gridlock stiffened, eyes wide open, while her cheekbones suddenly warmed up.

"Is that a prank?"

"No, you should read that.”

He handed him the small card and Gridlock accepted it with a cautious hand. She began to read:

_Roses are red. Violets are blue. Can’t find words to describe what I feel for you. I’m shy and stupid, but since you arrived, I can’t help gazing at you and warming up at your smiles. I love your wit, your temper and the colour of your eyes.  
  
_ _Happy Valentine’s Day, Tori.  
_ _S._

Gridlock then raised her turquoise eyes to Mozzie, her mouth agape. He took off his helmet and started giggling:

"Looks like you've got a secret admirer.”

"What the hell…" she just murmured.

It was signed S. _  
Who could it be?_

_The week before, in a pub lost in the English countryside._

"And that's when I told him: _I love you. Please have me. I swear I'll be good!_ " Smoke exclaimed with a wide grin.

Mute smiled discreetly at the tale, rolling his eyes and bringing his cider to his lips.

"I still can't believe you did this right under my nose," Thatcher sighed as he slumped into his seat. "I just thought you were playing idiot again, Porter.”

"That's what everyone says!” Smoke replied with astonishment.

"What I personally keep in mind with this story," Sledge began, "is that the only difference between a joking Porter a Porter in love is the ratio of swear words per minute!”

Mute laughed and nodded his head, while Smoke gawked at that, tightening his embrace around his giggling boyfriend.

"That's so not true, mate! I'm a very well-mannered fellow!"

Thatcher almost choked on his Scotch at those words.

"Anyway," Smoke started with a smirk, "I'm the only one around this table who can boast about their absolutely amazing sweetheart.”

He sealed his statement with a generous, loud kiss on Mute's shoulder.

"Huh, enjoy it Porter. Relationships like that are rare. Beautiful and rare," Thatcher told him.

"Both of you still have no one in sight, do you?” Smoke asked.

Thatcher just huffed and rolled his eyes, while Sledge _hastily_ brought his Scotch to his lips.

It hadn't escaped Smoke.

“ _Seamus_ , mate… quite unusual of you to be this silent. Anything to hide?” he slyly insisted.

“No.”

“Mate… “

“No.”

"You DO have someone in mind," Smoke exclaimed, leaping out of his seat, almost spilling his ginger beer.

"It's not like that!”

"Well please, do explain to me, I'm all ears."

Sledge chuckled nervously, and seeing his three colleagues waiting silently and curiously for information, he felt compelled to slowly confess:

"Yeah. Yeah, there's a woman that... that I find really charming. But nothing happened, and not sure anything may happen anyway.”

"Why? Who is it? Do we know her? What is she like?” Smoke started interrogating.

"It's just that... um... we run into each other from time to time, but that's all.”

"Why didn't you ask her out yet?"

"It's complicated, with life at the base..."

Smoke banged his palm against the table, making the glasses rattle, his mouth totally agape; shocked by his discovery.

"You secretive little sh-! She's a Rainbow operator, isn't she?!"

Thatcher tilted his head to stare at Sledge with a questioning look, his eyes wide open and eyebrows furrowed.

"M-Maybe," Sledge stammered, bringing his glass to his lips.

"Who is she?!” Smoke exclaimed. "A clue! A clue!"

"No way. You're going to be insufferable as soon as you find out! I know you, you’ll go see her, ask her questions and try to put us together in the most awkward way!”

"Huh, I wouldn't do all these things if you listened and followed your feelings in the first place.”

"I can take care of myself.”

"How long has it been?” Mute asked, breaking the adolescent tone of the conversation.

Sledge took another sip, his mind warm and foggy, and began to narrate:

"A little while, but not too much either. Since she arrived. The first time I saw her, I just found her gorgeous. And the first time I _heard_ her, I realized she was hiding quite a colorful personality. And the first time she _smiled_ at me... mate, I thought my legs were going to give up on me. And since then, every time I see her, I get this kind of itch in my stomach, sometimes my throat tightens when we talk, because I'm so afraid to say something stupid. And she's just so... amazing. She's super strong, she kicks ass, in training and scenarios, but she does it with disconcerting humility and... urgh, I'm smiling like an idiot, huh?”

Smoke tapped his hand:

"You're completely in love, mate.”

"You're in some deep shit," Thatcher scoffed.

"I know who it is," Mute declared.

The three men suddenly stared at him.

"And I think you should take a chance," he continued.

"Love of my life," Smoke asked, stroking Mute's back. "Who is it? You can tell your boyfriend, uh?"

Mute rolled his eyes with amusement.

"No, it's up to Seamus to tell you. But I think you do have a chance. Even though she seems closed, I saw her peeping at you several times when you weren’t looking, last time we were... with her. I’m sure she’s having the same worries as you do, regarding professional life and not knowing if her feelings are requited or not.”

"Is it an Indian thing? To be clever and good at reading people? You sound like Harry," Thatcher joked.

Sledge grunted, taking his head in his hands, his dark red hair having discreetly grown back on his usually bald skull.

“Where do I bloody start?” he mumbled.

“Well, next week’s Valentine’s Day. You could make a move,” Mute suggested with a shrug.

“Uh, not sure flowers and chocolates are her thing,” Sledge scoffed.

“Well _at least_ that’d be quite an unambiguous move,” Smoke replied with a sly smirk. “Now. Who is it?”

Sledge downed the rest of his glass and closed his eyes - _in the back of his mind, two pieces of aquamarine shaping into her eyes._

After their showers, the two Australian operators were free for the rest of the day and went to the workshop, to work on their drone, in preparation for the next combat robots match they were organizing with Mute and Twitch.

"Wait, wait, let's go through the list again!” Mozzie exclaimed, sitting on the table with a screwdriver in his hand. "Saïd?”

"He's gayer than a rainbow," Gridlock replied, gently welding a small piece onto their drone.

“Sam?”

“Unlikely, and I’m sure he has a thing for Thatcher. Besides, he was with us during the scenario. He can’t have put the things in there.”

“Smoke?”

“He’s with Mute.”

“Sanaa?”

“She dates Aruni.”

“Shuhrat?”

“He’s with one of the Russians, if not all of them.”

“Sébastien?”

“He’s abroad, for Operation Aztec.”

“Hm… why do I feel like we’re missing some people? Why didn’t they put a second letter! S is like so common. It could just mean SECRET for all we know.”

"... You're right, perhaps it's not a first name or an operator name," she suggested, putting down the tools and slumping into the chair. "Perhaps it's military alphabet? Sierra?"

"And why?"

"I don't know!" she loudly groaned.

rarely raised her voice, but she was feeling very weird. Knowing that someone had intentionally given her these gifts... That someone had looked at her without her realizing it… it didn't reassure her. She didn't like to have any attention on her. _Nope. Not her thing._

"C'mon sis, I'm sorry," Mozzie apologized, gently squeezing her shoulder. "Why is it freaking you out?”

"I don't know. I've never been in this place before and I don't know how to deal with that. It's vertiginous."

"It's been quite some time since you dated anyone, uh,” he wondered.

"Yeah. Quite some time. But I don't know... if it's someone from work... it's gonna be some useless drama. I'm too tired for that shit."

Mozzie looked at her with a sorry look on his face.

"But if it brought you some nice and cute love story, wouldn't it be worth it? You said it yourself, you're tired... a love story can be restful, you know. To have someone to share things with. Someone to hug.”

"I don't know if I really have time for this stuff. And I’d need someone who's willing to follow me to Australia during my leave, who's willing to help me fix up the family home whenever there's a problem and who likes my family and-"

"Tori.”

"I know what you're going to say.”

"Family first, I get it. But that doesn't mean _house_ _plumbing before happiness_."

She sighed, running a hand through her chocolate hair, and started working on their drone again.

"Just don't pressure yourself," Mozzie reassured her, “in the best case scenario, your admirer has enough balls or boobs or... whatever, to come to you in the flesh and ask you out, and you see where it takes you. In the worst case, you don't care, and everything's fine too, right?”

"Yeah... Guess, you're right.”

"Well, let's change the subject. We have a _Pestilence 3.0_ to finish! I heard that Mark was completely changing JM-Ranger’s engine. Hopefully, he won't have had time to fine-tune it before the next tournament. Can’t wait to see his Scottish cheerleader raging again, haha!”

Tori smiled, her heart warming timidly at the mention of the said Scotsman. She remembered his completely humorous anger during the last match, when she had completely reversed the situation with their Pestilence 2.7 and put the poor JM-Ranger off-circuit. In the adrenaline rush of the moment, she had winked at him, and he had responded with a falsely shocked look, which had discreetly turned into a sweet, amused smile. _He had a beautiful smile_.

“No?”

"I'm sorry, you were saying?” she asked, shaking her head to chase the thoughts away.

"I asked if you had any idea where the older blueprint was? I can't find it anymore and would just like to check a thing..."

"Ah, it’s in my dorm, I'll go and get it.”

She quickly straightened up, taking off her gloves and goggles, temporarily leaving Mozzie alone with their new toy, hoping that he didn't break everything in her absence. She walked down the corridor and called the lift. While waiting for it, she couldn't help but pull out the little Valentine's Day card she had discreetly kept.

_Roses are red. Violets are blue. Can’t find words to describe what I feel for you. I’m shy and stupid, but since you arrived, I can’t help gazing at you and warming up at your smiles. I love your wit, your temper and the colour of your eyes._

_Happy Valentine’s Day, Tori.  
_ _S._

She notices for the first time something that was yet quite hard to miss. _Colour_. Whoever it was, they were not American, and had grown up or learnt with British English. In India perhaps? In Oceania? In fact, perhaps European or Asiatic schools taught British English rather than American?

The lift door opened, and she went in, pushing the button for the dormitory floor. She sighed, turning the card over for the umpteenth time as if another clue might have appeared on the back.

The lift stopped two floors before hers and someone else entered. And immediately she recognised _him_. To his lemony Cologne, the shadow he created with his imposing height, and the bright atmosphere that accompanied his aura.

"H-hi," Sledge mumbled, his eyes widening at her sight.

"Hey," she simply replied, stepping aside a little to make room for him.

He was about to press the button for his floor, but exclaimed with awkwardness:

"Oh! We're going to the same floor! So I don't have to push the button!”

She raised an eyebrow, and he passed a hand over the nape of his neck, fleeing her gaze and grinning awkwardly. The lift door closed slowly.

And at that very moment, Gridlock suddenly understood.

She looked again at the small card she was holding in her hands.

Then she looked at Sledge, whose face was redder than a tomato.

Then the card.

Then Sledge.

Then the card.

Then Sledge.

"It's embarrassing, uh?" he finally confessed with an awkward smile.

"It was you?!" she exclaimed.

"Um, I... yes?”

She opened her mouth wide, but no words came out. The lift continued to slowly make its way upwards.

"Hum… Happy Valentine's Day?!" Sledge exclaimed.

But Gridlock still couldn't get her thoughts straight. She showed him the card, as if to ask him to explain himself, but still couldn't utter a word.

Soon the lift opened on the dormitory floor.

"Ah! This is my floor! Hmm, yours as well!” he said. “Since you had already pressed the button when I came in, right? Um... I'm going to go now, aren't I? Before I make a bigger fool of myself, alrighty?”

But Gridlock blocked his way with her arm, preventing him from getting out of the lift, and she hastily pressed the button to force the doors shut. Sledge pursed his lips, looking down, the light in the corridor disappearing in a small slit.

"Y-You- Care to explain?” she stammered.

"I... um, yes, sure. Last week I went to the pub with the squad and um... we drank, and we talked. And I told them, and they told me to make a move for Valentine's Day and since I was a drunk fool, I agreed.”

"So... it was just because you were drunk?” Gridlock asked, struggling to hide her disappointment. "You went drinking with your friends and thought it would be _fun_ to get me something for Valentine's Day?"

"What?! Not at all! Well, yes, but no! It wasn't to play a joke on you! It's just that I... um... Tori, how can I put this... "

She felt a sudden heat at the sound of her name through his Scottish lips. But she tried to conceal any sign of it, and took a deep breath:

"Just... did you mean it?” she asked. “What you wrote? Did you mean it?”

"Oh you managed to decipher my writing?!" he joyfully exclaimed with a genuine grin.

" _Seamus_ , did you mean it?"

She again attempted to deliberately disregard the familiarity and sweetness in her mouth as she pronounced his name.

And he deliberately disregarded the butterflies in his stomach when he heard her colourful voice pronounce his phonemes.

“I did. I’m sorry, this is awkward and really not a gentleman way to tell you this, but I find you absolutely _lovely_. You’re gorgeous, you’re funny, you’re smart and whenever you smile at me, I melt like ice cream under a summer sun glare. And I get stupid. I mean stupider than usual. And I know we’re colleagues and stuff, and I don’t know how you feel about it, so I’ve… kept it for myself, but eh… here we are.”

“You’re not joking?”

“No. Why would I?”

“You’re friends with Porter.”

“Good point.”

They shared a chuckle, the atmosphere softening a bit.

“I’m… What am I supposed to do? Or say?” she carefully asked.

“Hum… well, we could… I mean… I guess that’s where I’m supposed to ask you out and you either turn me down - which is totally ok - or you accept, which is somehow more pleasant for me, but eh, your choice. So… would you like to go out sometimes? With me?”

She pinched her lips, trying to prevent her mouth from stretching into a goofy smile. She felt her cheeks blushing with heat and prayed it wasn't too obvious.

"I... I think I'd like that. Yeah," she murmured.

Sledge's face illuminated.

"Really?!!"

"Yeah."

She smiled and pressed the button to reopen the lift doors.

"So... um... I'll message you?" he offered.

"Y-yeah. I'll message you too..." she replied, coming out of the lift.

But at the last moment, she turned back and tiptoed to put a quick kiss on his cheek, before disappearing into the hallway, rushing to her dormitory.

Sledge remained speechless, passing a hesitant hand on his own cheek.

The lift doors closing on his goofy face.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! <3 I hope you enjoyed it :)  
> Please, don't forget to check the [other writers' works](https://dualrainbow.tumblr.com/post/641891258120437760/siege-the-valentines-2021) either on Tumblr or on the Archive collection!


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